"It's what Kailua is all about," Jerome Kanuha told Big Island Now on the evening Kona Inn Restaurant reopened in June. He has been eating there since he was 4. He also said that when he was growing up, everybody who lived in Kailua worked at the Kona Inn, his dad included. His dad worked as a bartender and a security guard.
That evening, June 18, 2026, wrapped up a sale that took two years to close. The restaurant next door got a new name a little later. If you still tell friends to meet you "at the Canoe Club," the sign now says Voyagers.
Most of this year's Kailua Village news has been about building plans, like a remodeled Kona Seaside Shops and a $13.8 million upgrade at Kailua Park. Those projects are real and funded, but as of the latest county and news updates, none of them has visibly started. The change you can actually see and taste on Aliʻi Drive right now is ownership. Two waterfront restaurants that shared a seller now share a buyer, and that buyer is made up of three restaurants already operating in Kona.
Two Restaurants Sold as One Package
Kona Inn Restaurant and Kona Canoe Club were on the market together for two years. In April 2026, Big Island Now reported that a newly formed company called Island Restaurant Group had bought both. The group isn't an outside newcomer. Three Kona restaurants formed it together:
- Jackie Rey's
- Harbor House
- Umekes Fish Market Bar & Grill
Nakoa Pabre owns Umekes and serves as the group's executive chairman. He told Big Island Now that the goal is better-quality jobs and giving more back to the community. Michael Hofstedt II joined as vice president of operations.
What Pabre said about staffing matters most for anyone who has been going to these two restaurants for years:
"We have all the same employees in both (Kona Inn Restaurant and Canoe Club) locations. We're just there to help the employees we have, but work on making a better menu and better quality food and service."
He also said that Kona Inn would "still feel the same" while the menu got updated. That promise held up through the summer at Kona Inn. At the second restaurant, the change went further.
Kona Inn Kept Its Classics and Brought Back Prime Rib
Kona Inn Restaurant is at 75-5744 Aliʻi Drive. The new chef is Kaikili Roldan. The crab cakes, calamari and mud pie are still on the menu. Nightly prime rib is back, along with newer fish and vegetarian dishes and a refreshed list of wine, cocktails and mocktails.
The restaurant's website lists two time windows that are handy if you live nearby:
- Kamaʻāina lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Happy hour: daily, 3 to 5 p.m.
Those are the only hours the site lists, so check dinner times before you go. Around 100 people came to the June 18 reopening, which included a Hawaiian blessing out front.
The Canoe Club Got a New Name, and Its Old Name Still Lingers
The second half of the sale went through a bigger change. The former Kona Canoe Club now runs as Voyagers at 75-5744 Aliʻi Drive #21, open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Its website still puts "Formerly Kona Canoe Club" right under the coordinates at the top of the page. That suggests the owners expect people to keep using the old name for a while. The menu has shifted toward what the restaurant calls "Flavors of the Pacific," and the site describes a bar with a star-lit ceiling and carved canoe reliefs on the walls.
Both restaurants share the 75-5744 Aliʻi Drive address. That's why the sale made sense as a package, and why the new names can get confusing. If you're giving directions to visiting family, "Kona Inn" still works for one door. For the other, "Voyagers" is now the name on the sign.
The owners' name has its own small wrinkle. Big Island Now's April coverage called the buyer Island Restaurant Group. The group's own website uses the name Hawaii Restaurant Group and lists Kona Inn and Voyagers alongside Jackie Rey's, Harbor House and Umeke's. The available sources don't say whether that's a formal name change or just branding. Either way, it's the same five restaurants.
The Remodels Everyone Mentions Are Still in Permitting
This is why ownership counts as the story of 2026. The two biggest physical projects in and around the village were approved and funded this year, but the most recent public updates still show both in permitting.
Kona Seaside Shops, 75-5663 Palani Road. In June 2026, the Leeward Planning Commission voted 5-0 to approve a renovation of this 55-year-old center, which West Hawaii Today estimated at about $5 million. The plan tears down three vacant buildings and renovates the other two. It also adds retail and restaurant space, kiosks, a courtyard and outdoor seating. The planning renderings label one new eatery "Aliʻi Restaurant." That's a working name on a drawing, and the June coverage didn't name an operator, chef or opening date. The next steps listed in June were design review, building permits and choosing a contractor. The current tenants named in that coverage were Big Kahuna Beach Grill, Kaʻū Coffee Roasters Café, Pacific Vibrations, Homegrown Cone and Sparked with Aloha. The trust that owns the property said it did not plan to remove them and would try to accommodate them.
Kailua Park, home to Old Kona Airport Beach Park. The county's project page puts the cost at $13,840,097, with Goodfellow Bros., Inc. as the contractor and Engineering Partners, Inc. as the designer. The plan calls for:
- Two new comfort stations by the beach, replacing one that burned and another closed for structural failure
- A comfort station by the canoe hales and events pavilion
- A comfort station next to the ball field across from the old terminal
- Demolition of the old terminal building and a new concession building for community activities
The design is done and the contract has been awarded. The county projected a construction start in September or October 2026, and its parks project list, updated September 2, still described the permitting process as ongoing. Until crews show up, the beach-side restrooms at Kailua Park are in the same condition they have been in.
One smaller project is already finished. The comfort station at Kailua Playground, 75-5794 Kuakini Highway, has reopened. Paving of the parking lot and play court was still listed as pending.
What's Still Affecting Traffic Around Hualālai Road
If you drive Hualālai Road between Aliʻi Drive and Kuakini Highway, you've lived with the county's $6.4 million sewer force main replacement since work began in October 2025. Crews have worked in phases, generally on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The county's project page listed September 23, 2026 as the anticipated completion date, but it hasn't announced that the work is done. The page still warns drivers to expect extra travel time during work hours. Expect possible delays until the county says otherwise.
That leaves Kailua Village with two kinds of change this fall. You can see the restaurant changes on any given evening, and they come from Kona operators taking over places Kona residents grew up with. The construction is coming later. Seaside Shops and Kailua Park both have approvals and budgets, but neither had a confirmed construction start in the latest public updates. For now, the restaurant changes are the ones to keep track of: Kona Inn with its prime rib back, and Voyagers in the Canoe Club's old spot.
If you live within walking distance of Aliʻi Drive, a remodeled Seaside Shops and a rebuilt Kailua Park are the kinds of changes that shape what your home is worth over the next few years. Noelani Spencer tracks these projects from permit to opening and is happy to talk through what they mean for your street. Let's connect, and request your free home valuation.
